Binding box for packaging and recycling

ABSTRACT

A binding box for packaging and paper recycling comprises of a base, four trays, and four supporting parts connecting the trays and base, respectively. Each of the trays holds a corner to a quarter of the area of the papers or materials which need to be bound. The four trays work together to hold papers or any materials that needs to be bound but there is a clearance between any two pairs of the trays. Given the clearance between the trays and the clearance between the base and trays, human hands, ropes, or binding tools can go through to bind the papers without touching any one of the trays or moving the objects which needs to be bound. The ropes are placed in the clearances between trays. Once the binding is finished, a stack of bound papers or materials can be removed directly from the top of the binding box without moving the box.

FIELD OF INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of tools and containers for packaging and paper recycling for environment protection, manufacture, and other applications, more particularly, to a box for collecting, binding, and packaging papers or materials easily.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Paper recycling for environment protection has been popular in offices and at homes. In offices, the recycling work is relatively easy since there are special cans or bins for recycling, while at home, it is required to bind all papers together using ropes and put them on the curbs for collection. Without a special tool, the collecting and binding work is not easy: Firstly, many small scraps of papers have been thrown into garbage cans instead of recycled because they are too small to be collected and bound; thus, a large amount of recyclable papers are not recycled. Secondly, for large pieces of papers which can be recycled, such as newspapers, magazines, or books, it is not easy to bind them properly using ropes. One has to move or turn a large stack of papers or magazines around while doing the binding work. The effort is often failed and one has to repeat the work for more than once while bending one stack of papers. Many people also find it discouraging and may not take the effort to try again, thus wasting much reusable paper.

[0003] The same problem exists in manufacture in packaging products. It is necessary to move the products which need to be packaged or bound during binding using ropes or other materials. Thus, a special tool or method is needed for packaging products as well.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

[0004] The prior art related to this invention is containers or boxes for the collection or transportation of newspapers, recycling stuff, mail, food, etc.

[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,842 (2003) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,568 (2001) to Butterfield et al. disclosure a container for a stack of newspapers includes bottom, side, and back walls and a substantially open front to facilitate stacking newspapers in the container. Although the container facilitates picking up and dumping the stacked papers in a collection truck, it does not have the function to facilitate binding newspapers. Also, the container with wheels is too big for family use and is more expensive to manufacture compared to this invention.

[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,743 (1991) to Lazzarotti disclosures a combined sack and tray system for mail collection. It allows mail sacks and tray receptacles to be used as output for the small parcels and bundles sorting system used by the United States Post Office. U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,636 (1991) to Coskery discloses a refuse recycling box having a flat bottom which is separated by flow channels. This flat bottom, like other flat bottom containers, will tend to creep, deform and bow downward under a given load, especially as a long-term consequence. U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,858 (2001) to Koefelda is a plastic container includes at least one side wall member and bottom portion integrally formed with the at least one side wall. The bottom portion has an outer surface with a generally concave shape. In addition to the above containers, there are many issued patents related to containers and boxes listed wherein the above patent documents. For all the above inventions, they have the function as a container and can be used for collection; however, none of them can facilitate binding the collected substances. All the collected materials must be taken out from the boxes or containers before binding.

[0007] Therefore, there is a need for a container which can facilitate not only the collection but also the work of binding the collected materials inside the container. In other words, the container should be able to collect and support the objects which need to be bound. Furthermore, the container should allow the binding work to be done without moving the substances stored inside the container until the binding work is finished.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] With the foregoing in mind, the present invention advantageously provides a binding box for packaging and paper recycling. The binding box has three functions: Firstly, it can be used to collect and hold both large and small pieces of paper for binding; Secondly, one can easily bind the materials inside the box using ropes without any movement of the objects which needs to be bound; and Lastly, once the binding work is finished, the bound papers or stuff can be taken out from the top of the binding box directly without moving the box.

[0009] The present invention discloses a box comprising four trays to hold the four corners of papers from the bottom while leaving enough space among the trays; thus, ropes can go though while binding. The four trays are mounted to a base by four standing parts. Those standing parts ensure enough clearance between the trays and the base; therefore, human hands and ropes can go between the trays and base to bind whatever is in the box during binding. Given the space between the bottoms of the trays and the bases as well as the space among the trays, the papers or materials can be bound without any movement during binding, and bound papers or materials can be removed from the top of the box directly without moving the box.

[0010] The present invention can also be applied to package and bind products in industry manufacture. It can make the packaging work more efficient and reduce the cost of production.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Drawings—Figures

[0012]FIG. 1 is a top view of the binding box according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is an isometric, exploded view of the same embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 1.

[0014]FIG. 3 is the binding box as shown in FIG. 1 with collected papers.

[0015]FIG. 4 shows that the collected papers were bound by ropes without moving the papers.

[0016]FIG. 5 shows that the bound papers were removed from the binding box without moving the box.

[0017]FIG. 6 is a different embodiment of the present invention. It uses four legs as the standing parts and base for the binding box.

DRAWING—REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0018]10 is the base of the binding box.

[0019]12, 22, 32, and 42 are standing parts.

[0020]14, 24, 34, and 44 are trays for holding papers.

[0021]16, 26, 36, and 46 are side walls of the paper holding trays.

[0022]18, 28, 38, and 48 are front walls of the paper holding trays.

[0023]50 is collected papers that needs to be bound.

[0024]52 is ropes for binding.

[0025]62, 64, 66, and 68 are legs of a different embodiment of the present invention.

[0026]72, 82, 76, and 86 are side frames to connect the legs.

[0027]74, 84, 78, and 88 are front frames to connect the legs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0028] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the illustrated embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these illustrated embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[0029]FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the binding box for paper recycling. FIG. 2 is an isometric, exploded view of the binding box shown in FIG. 1. The binding box comprises a base 10, four standing parts 12, 22, 32, and 42, and four paper holding trays 14, 24, 34, and 44.

[0030] In FIG. 2, the base 10 is used to fix the four standing parts. The standing parts 12, 22, 32, and 42 have upper surfaces connected to the trays and lower surfaces connected to the base. The distance between the lower and upper surfaces should be large enough to create a clearance such that human hands and ropes can go through the space between the trays and base for binding.

[0031] In FIG. 2, each of the paper holding trays comprises a tray base, 14, 24, 34, or 44; a front wall, 18, 28, 38, or 18; and a side wall 16, 26, 36, or 46. Both the front walls and side walls are connected to the tray base. Four paper trays work together to hold papers but there is enough space among the trays, such that ropes can be placed in the space for binding.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 3, when the binding box is in use, papers can be collected by putting them on the top of the trays, 14, 24, 34, and 44. Since there is space among the four trays, one can use ropes to bind the papers. As shown in FIG. 4, the ropes can be placed in the space between the trays. The binding work can be performed without moving the papers at all. As shown in FIG. 5, once the binding is done, the bound papers can be removed from the top of the binding box for recycling directly without moving the box.

[0033] It should be understood that the binding box of the present invention may comprise an ornamental design. The ornamental design may be applied to a surface of the binding box, or may include the binding box itself incorporating an ornamental shape. For example, the tray walls could include the sign of paper recycling.

[0034] It should also be understood that the base 10, the standing parts 12, 22, 32, and 42, and paper holding trays 14, 24, 34, and 44, may have different design. For example, the base can be round or simply replaced by the floor. The standing part may have one or more pieces, such as one stick or a row of sticks. Further, the tray may have separate front and side walls and the walls may have various shapes and design. Each of the walls may comprise several pieces. An embodiment may even without any of the walls or with only part of the walls. The size of the binding box and the distance among trays can be changed for different paper sizes and applications.

[0035] In another embodiment is shown in FIG. 6. The paper trays are held by four legs, 62, 64, 66, and 68. The four legs are connected by front frames, 74, 84, 78, and 88; and four side frames, 72, 82, 76, and 86. In this embodiment, the four connected legs function as both the standing parts and the base. The four paper trays can be in the same design as the first embodiment described in the above.

[0036] For any one of the embodiments, wheels can be installed under the base of the standing parts for easy transportation. Also, additional attachments can be mounted on the surface of the binding box to hold ropes, scissors, and other tools to facilitate the binding work.

[0037] The binding box can be put on the floor or a table during use. The embodiment in FIG. 6 can be as high as a table to make the binding work even easier to users. Different designs of the binding box can be in different size in any dimension for different applications.

[0038] Also, the invention can be built of different materials, such as wood, metal, plastic, etc. Since human hands will be around the trays and may come in contact with the binding box, the binding box should not be made of materials that can injure human hands.

[0039] In addition to paper recycling, the concept of binding box can be embodied for other applications. For example, it can be used to bind products during packaging of any size in manufacture to improve efficiency and reduce cost.

[0040] In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed two typical preferred embodiments of the invention, and although specific terms are employed, the terms are used in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The invention has been described in considerable detail with specific reference of these illustrated embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that various modifications and changes can be made within the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the foregoing specification and as defined in the appended claims. 

That which is claimed:
 1. A binding box comprising: a base, four separate trays; and four supporting parts connecting the four trays and base, respectively.
 2. The binding box of claim 1, wherein the base holds or connects the supporting parts.
 3. The binding box of claim 1, wherein the base can be any shape and the base can be the floor.
 4. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each of the supporting parts connects the base and one tray.
 5. The binding box of claim 1, wherein the supporting parts have sufficient clearance between the base and trays for human hands and ropes to go though for binding.
 6. The binding box of claim 1, wherein supporting parts can be four legs connected by frames.
 7. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each of the trays can be connected by one side wall and one front wall.
 8. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each of the trays can be connected only by one side wall.
 9. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each of the trays can be connected only by one front wall.
 10. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each of the trays may not have walls connected to the tray.
 11. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each of the trays holds one corner to one quarter of the papers or materials which need to be bound, and four trays work together to hold the entire papers or materials which need to be bound.
 12. The binding box of claim 1, wherein there is space between any pairs of the trays, such that ropes or binding materials can be placed in the space to bind papers without touching the trays.
 13. The binding box of claim 1, further comprising an ornamental design, such as recycling signs.
 14. The binding box of claim 1, further comprising attachment to tools, such as ropes, scissors, or others.
 15. The binding box of claim 1, wherein the binding box can be built by any solid materials, such as wood, metal, plastics, papers, etc.
 16. The binding box of claim 1, wherein the binding box can be built by a combination of any of the solid materials.
 17. The binding box of claim 1, wherein each parts, base, standing parts, trays, and walls, may comprise one or more than one pieces of materials.
 18. A method of providing a binding box comprising: four separate trays to hold the four corners of papers or materials which need to be bound, respectively, and each of the trays are connected to a base with standing parts.
 19. A method of claim 18, further having enough clearance between the trays and base, such that human hands and ropes or other binding tools or materials can go though while conducting binding.
 20. A method of claim 18, further having enough clearance between any pair of the trays; therefore, ropes or other binding materials can be placed in the space to bind the papers or materials which need to be bound.
 21. A method of claim 18, after binding, the bound papers or materials can be removed from the top of the binding box directly without moving the binding box. 